At the end of the day.......

rockylizard · Guru

At the end of the day.......

Robreen · Veteran Member

It is past my bed time.

Robert

Dougwe · Chief one feather

When is midnight, Rocky confuse I'm asleep then.

RustyD · Guru

When I was at school, I was taught the definition that AM = Ante meridiem: Before noon, PM = Post meridiem: After noon. i.e. all time was relative to 12 noon or 12 midnight. I'm now confused about 12am and 12pm given that am & pm are relative to 12. So Im not sure when I should be asleep hence I now have a midday and midnight nap.

dogbox · Guru

did someone forget to take their medication??

PeterD · Guru

RustyD wrote:
I'm now confused about 12am and 12pm given that am & pm are relative to 12.

There is no need to be confused. Technically there is no such thing as 12 AM or 12 PM. Just like zero has no value, they are all just starting points. The correct terms are 12 noon or 12 midnight, or just simply noon or midnight. Feel free to correct anyone who uses the terms 12 AM or 12 PM they are just fictitious terms.

RustyD · Guru

And the answer is 24 (for those who reckon everything can be described in mathematical terms).

Leo · Senior Member

It is odd though isn't it, for the hours to go 10pm, 11pm and then 12am (midnight) and then the apparent switch from the mounting am hours to 12pm (midday)? smile
Easy to understand why some get confused setting times.

I guess most of us have some idiosyncrasies/lapses in understanding, maybe carryovers from some poor explanation or inattention at school or school days lost through illness and not caught up.

PeterD · Guru

As I said above 12 AM and 12 PM are simply nonsense. Using those terms demonstrates a lack of comprehension.

From Confusion at noon and midnight

From the Latin words meridies (midday), ante (before) and post (after), the term ante meridiem (a.m.) means before midday and post meridiem (p.m.) means after midday. Since "noon" (midday - meridies (m.)) is neither before nor after itself, the terms a.m. and p.m. do not apply.

I you wish to appear literate you simply do not use those terms.

Relax-n · Guru

RustyD wrote:
And the answer is 24 (for those who reckon everything can be described in mathematical terms).

Ah!! I think you got the numbers around the wrong way

Deep Thought gave the answer 42.........

ramblegambol · Veteran Member

Have to agree with Peter D despite all the textbooks I have taught from that are incorrect.
Noon is the meridian - sun at highest point in the day.
12 midnight could possibly be PM as being 12 hours Past Noon......BUT...
But it's also arguably 12 AM as it's 12 hours before noon.

11.59 and 12.01 no problems of course.
By far the best way is to use 12 Midday or 12 Noon, and 12 Midnight which means no confusion.
I've taught this to hundreds of Hotel staff who did not have English as their first language.
But all the US printed ESL textbooks got it wrong!

What about midnight on the 24 hour clock? Should it be 2400 hours or 0000 hrs?
At least you can't mistake either for the wrong time of day!

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Military time operates on a 24- hour clock that begins at midnight which is referred to as 0000 hours, with 1:00 a.m. being 0100 hours, 2:00 a.m. being 0200 hours, etc. all the way to 11:00 p.m. being 2300 hours. ... Under this system, midnight is 00, 1 a.m. is 01, 1 p.m. is 13, and so on.

Cheers - John

Santa · Guru

PeterD wrote:

There is no need to be confused. Technically there is no such thing as 12 AM or 12 PM. Just like zero has no value, they are all just starting points. The correct terms are 12 noon or 12 midnight, or just simply noon or midnight. Feel free to correct anyone who uses the terms 12 AM or 12 PM they are just fictitious terms.

Nailed it Peter. smile

RustyD · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
Military time operates on a 24- hour clock that begins at midnight which is referred to as 0000 hours, with 1:00 a.m. being 0100 hours, 2:00 a.m. being 0200 hours, etc. all the way to 11:00 p.m. being 2300 hours. ... Under this system, midnight is 00, 1 a.m. is 01, 1 p.m. is 13, and so on.
Cheers - John

Not just military use 24 hour clock. Many Asian countries use a 24 hour clock. I used a 24 hour clock at work for 27 years. International company, not military. Strangely enough I still use it whenever a time piece offers a 24 hour setting. Anyone at the coalface of computers also uses 24 hours.

PeterD · Guru

RustyD wrote:
Many Asian countries use a 24 hour clock. I used a 24 hour clock at work for 27 years. International company, not military. Strangely enough I still use it whenever a time piece offers a 24 hour setting. Anyone at the coalface of computers also uses 24 hours.

Ditto.

It gets even more interesting when you are operating in an international operation like aviation. You use a 24 H clock based on UTM.